# But why would we need a piano? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 5, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-why-would-we-need-a-piano/329665 "2005-11-05T16:17:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-why-would-we-need-a-piano/329665/1 "2005-11-05T16:17:13Z")
The strangest thing just happened… I am working overtime and am alone on the floor so there’s nobody i can ask about this. We have workmen moving around shifting furniture. One of them has just gone by pushing something which looks like nothing so much as a piano :eek: Well i puzzled for a moment but i couldn’t figure out why on earth my company would need a piano. Upon investigating, i discovered that it was placed near where our printers are and it has the Hewlitt Packard logo on. I can’t seem to work out any other identifiers other than it’s big (about 5 feet long, 2 feet wide and 4 feet tall) and has a coffin-style part where you’d expect the strings to be housed on a piano. And it has a wide roller underneath. And looks like a piano (obviously). What in the heck IS the darn thing? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-why-would-we-need-a-piano/329665/2 "2005-11-05T16:24:16Z")
It was Hewlett-Packard’s revolutionary “PC” released in 1979. Designed to blend in with the furniture of a typical American living room, it nevertheless had over 100 Kilobytes of memory capacity. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-why-would-we-need-a-piano/329665/3 "2005-11-05T16:36:25Z")
Do you see it on [here](http://www.hp.com/)? Investigate and report back to us. ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-why-would-we-need-a-piano/329665/4 "2005-11-05T16:55:18Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > Do you see it on [here](http://www.hp.com/)? Investigate and report back to us. Nope. Couldn’t find it there. It looks about as big as some of the industrial ones but it’s somehow…different… Definitely more piano-like. It must be some sort of magic printing gizmo but i can’t work out what we’d use it for. Unless to print out 5 foot wide sheets of paper but if we needed those we’d normally just print A4 stuff and tape em together. Not that we are an organisation that \*\*needs \*\* to print 5 foot wide bits of paper with any regularity. We just happened to think it would be funky to have a detailed map of London on the wall. This is going to bug me all night now. I’ll have to come in early to poke a manager on the head and point questioningly at it. (Point at the piano-thing, not the manager). ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-why-would-we-need-a-piano/329665/5 "2005-11-05T17:25:45Z")
[Here](http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/un/WF02a/18972-236251-236266.html) ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-why-would-we-need-a-piano/329665/6 "2005-11-05T20:22:11Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [Here](http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/un/WF02a/18972-236251-236266.html) Yes those were the industrial ones i looked at before. It’s not any of them. In fact i’m fairly sure the one second from the bottom is a knitting machine. I guess i’ll just have to stick to poking. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-why-would-we-need-a-piano/329665/7 "2005-11-06T03:09:06Z")
> [@zelie zelerton](#): > > I guess i’ll just have to stick to poking. If it’s a long-term thing, switch to prodding. It’s less labor-intensive, but it gets the job done! ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-why-would-we-need-a-piano/329665/8 "2005-11-06T04:22:19Z")
Wax color printer Mechanical Drawing ink pen plotter. Mechanical Drawing inkjet plotter. Mechanical Drawing toner plotter. Old Amonnia developer Blue print copier. All the above that used a continous tear off sheet would have a roll storage area to feed the machine. What’s the model number. What type of interface. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-why-would-we-need-a-piano/329665/9 "2005-11-06T04:28:21Z")
Put on a cocktail dress, spread yourself languidly atop the device and see if anyone strikes up _My Funny Valentine_ ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-why-would-we-need-a-piano/329665/10 "2005-11-06T14:08:10Z")
> [@Harmonious Discord](#): > > Wax color printer > Mechanical Drawing ink pen plotter. > Mechanical Drawing inkjet plotter. > Mechanical Drawing toner plotter. > Old Amonnia developer Blue print copier. > > All the above that used a continous tear off sheet would have a roll storage area to feed the machine. > What’s the model number. > What type of interface. OOOOO OOOOO PLOTTER IT’S A PLOTTER!!! There was a scrappy note taped to the wall nearby saying sumpin about plotters. I initially ignored it cos we have lots of scrappy notes taped to the wall in that area. Mystery the First solved!!! Now i just have to work out what a plotter is and why we need one and whether or not my cocktail dress is back from the drycleaners. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-why-would-we-need-a-piano/329665/11 "2005-11-06T14:32:37Z")
A plotter is a computer outout device that draws big graphics, like building plans or wiring diagrams. It uses colored pens on paper or plastic film that’s often 4 or 5 feet wide & as long as needed. Very cool indeed, but not of much use in a conventional office. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-why-would-we-need-a-piano/329665/12 "2005-11-06T20:42:57Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > Put on a cocktail dress, spread yourself languidly atop the device and see if anyone strikes up _My Funny Valentine_ Well, given that it was a **plotter** , perhaps “The Spy Who Loved Me” might be the more appropriate choice! But thanks for the laugh. Did anyone besides me get struck by the vision of **Eve** doing exactly that when they read the above post? ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-why-would-we-need-a-piano/329665/13 "2005-11-06T21:01:13Z")
Yes i did lol. I have to say the whole ‘plotter’ thing passed me by. I just associated the word more with ‘planning’ and assumed somebody was hatching some sort of scheme. It is starting to make a little bit of sense now. We are not that conventional an office. I still haven’t worked out what we are going to be using it for though. And i’m pissed about the lack of ambient music to accompany our work. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-why-would-we-need-a-piano/329665/14 "2005-11-06T22:08:44Z")
You could scan a photo in at a very high resolution and print a mural for the wall.